Lee Denies Clemency for Christa Pike Ahead of Execution

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has denied clemency for Christa Pike, leaving her scheduled execution by lethal injection on September 30 in place as her lawyers seek an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. The court’s response was not reported in the available accounts, so it remains unclear whether the execution will proceed as scheduled. If carried out, Pike’s execution would be Tennessee’s first execution of a woman in more than 200 years, according to the reports. Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old classmate at Knoxville Job Corps. Pike was 18 at the time. Her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, who was 17, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole; a third teenager involved in the case received probation. Lee said he had reviewed Pike’s clemency request and would not intervene. Her attorneys have argued that her age, mental-health conditions and history of childhood abuse should have weighed more heavily in her sentencing. They say those circumstances were not adequately presented to the jury. Pike’s lawyers and supporters also point to her later diagnoses of bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.